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Grift of the Magi
Grift of the Magi is a Heist Society novella published in November 2016. It features the return of most of the main characters of previous installments of the series. Plot Kat and Gabrielle return to Uncle Eddie's Brooklyn brownstone from another job in early December. They expect to find the house empty, and are surprised to find Interpol Agent Amelia Bennett waiting for them in the kitchen. Agent Bennett reveals to the girls that she has recently been contacted by a childhood friend that runs a London-based charity known as the Magi Miracle Network, which provides Christmas presents to children whose families are facing financial difficulties. The charity had recently been gifted one of three Eggs of the Magi, special Faberge Eggs that, while outwardly identical, each represent one of the three gifts presented to the baby Jesus by the Wise Men in the Bible. This Egg was stolen from the charity not long after they announced that they would auction the Egg off, and in order to protect the charity's reputation, Amelia would like Kat to find, re-steal, and return the Egg to the Magi Miracle Network before the scheduled auction on December 23. Agent Bennett believes Kat would be interested in the job because the Magi Miracle Network was started by the late Hazel Hale. W.W. Hale the Fifth, as owner of Hale Industries, is therefore on the board of the Magi Miracle Network. As Agent Bennett leaves the brownstone, Kat asks her which of the three Eggs it is she has been asked to find. Amelia believes it is the Gold Egg, but isn't certain because both the location and owners of both the Gold Egg and the Frankincense Egg have been kept relatively secret. It is then revealed that Kat is the owner of the Frankincense Egg, which had been owned by her mother before her. The next day, Kat and Gabrielle drive to Hale's upstate New York mansion. On their way, Kat reveals that, after her mother's death, she developed a fascination with the Eggs of the Magi, and years ago, told Hale that she would like to have all three eggs. She is worried that Hale might have stolen the Egg from his own charity, and tries to hide her worries as she explains to Hale everything that she had been told about the Egg by Amelia Bennett. Hale briefly believes that Kat suspects him of stealing the Gold Egg, but as she convinces him that she knows he would never steal from Hazel's (and technically his) charity, he becomes angry that someone broke one of Uncle Eddie's rules about being a thief and stole from a charity. Hale and Kat fly to London to meet with the director of the Magi Miracle Network, Ms. Elizabeth Evans. Ms. Evans is clearly distressed by recent events, but explains that the Egg had been very recently given to her charity by the Earl of Greymore, the owner of a five-hundred year old title and estate. The Earl's steward and attorney had arranged for the Egg to be given to the Magi Miracle Network under the condition that the Egg be auctioned off before the end of the year. Ms. Evans believed they put the time restriction on the donation for tax reasons, though she's not certain of any specific reasons. As she explains what happened, Ms. Evans is very apologetic to Hale, but is reluctant to accept help from Kat. Kat impresses Ms. Evans by correctly deducing what had happened to the Egg: that it was conned, not stolen, by a single man who convinced Ms. Evans that he was an appraiser. Ms. Evans admits that Kat's deductions are true, and tells Kat that the man who took the Egg introduced himself as Robert Knightly, a name that Kat and Hale immediately recognize as one of Bobby Bishop's aliases. To further confirm that it was Kat's father who had taken the Egg, Ms. Evans, an ametur artist, provides them with a picture of the man who conned the Egg, a picture of a man who is, without a doubt, Bobby Bishop. Hale is enraged that his hero, Bobby, broke one of Uncle Eddie's rules and stole from a charity, especially one of Hale's charities. Kat asks him not to jump to conclusions, and the two track Bobby down in Sydney, Australia the following day. Hale and Bobby argue in the middle of a park, and Bobby reveals that yes, he stole the Egg, but only because he knew it was a forgery. He had been offered the job by a connection within the family business, and could tell from a picture of the Egg in the newspaper, announcing the upcoming charity auction, that it was not a real Faberge Egg. Bobby accepted the job partly because he knew that the Magi Miracle Network's reputation would be ruined if they auctioned off a forgery, but also because he wanted to know why someone would want him to steal the forgery from one of Hale's charities. The three of them return to London, where they meet with Ms. Evans and Amelia Bennett in a cafe and explain their suspicions that someone is pulling an inside job and that the real villain of the story isn't Bobby, but someone else. Gabrielle then interrupts the meeting to explain the research that she's done on the Earl of Greymore. The man is severely in debt, and appears to be very sick. The heir to his title and estate is his nephew, and all property tied to the Earldom will go to the current Earl's nephew after his death. The Gold Egg, however, is the Earl's personal property, and despite having been donated to charity, the Egg will be the Earl's property until the auction. Gabrielle then explains that the Egg has an old, established insurance policy, with a double indemnity policy that the Earl obtained for the Egg when he used to loan it to universities and museums to display. In the event that something bad happens to the Egg (like being stolen) while it is in someone else's care (like being in the care of a charity to which it was donated), the Earl would recieve twice the insured value of the Egg from his insurance company. Hale, Kat, Gabrielle, and Bobby recognize this as a con called the Bird in the Hand. The person running this con, who, by necessity, must be close to the Earl, would be able to collect the insurance money on the Egg and sell it on the black market for full price, because black market buyers would know that the real Egg had been recently stolen and would know to expect it for sale on the black market. To collect more information, Hale, as the chair of the Magi Miracle Network, invites himself to the Earl of Greymore's annual Christmas party at Greymore Castle, an estate on the English-Scottish border. Kat poses as his personal assistant, while Kat, Gabrielle, and Angus and Hamish Bagshaw disguise themselves as servants in the Earl's house. Kat and Hale, as official guests, meet the Earl and his companions, including his nephew, Fletcher Fitzsimmons (who uses the courtesy title Viscount Marley, despite the fact that the Earl, the technical holder of the title Viscount Marley, doesn't like Fletcher and doesn't like that his nephew calls himself Viscount), and the Earl's daughter, Lady Georgette. They are then introduced to the Earl's new fiancee, a woman they are shocked to discover is actually Irina, Gabrielle's mother and Kat's aunt. Kat and the members of her usual crew talk with Irina, who they suspect of running the Bird in the Hand. Irina denies it, and instead insists that she's giving up her career as a honeypot and serial divorcee in order to permanently become the Countess of Greymore. Her goal is not to take the Earl's money or jewels, but rather his reputation. Irina then shows the crew to the Gold Egg that is displayed in one of the sitting rooms of the castle, which she believes is real. Kat, however, insists that the egg on display is a forgery (one good enough to have been made by her Uncle Charlie), because she owns a real Egg of the Magi and can tell the difference. As the crew and Irina argue about the possibility that the Earl had inadvertently sent the Magi charity a fake egg, Kat recognizes that there is a secret passageway connected to the room, and opens it to find it full of hundreds of fake Eggs of the Magi. Over the next few days, Kat and her crew find countless other forgeries in the castle. As Kat and Hale search a cupboard near the kitchen for other forgeries, they are interrupted by Lady Georgette. Hale excuses himself, and Lady Georgette, who can tell that there is a romantic relationship between Kat and Hale, insists that Hale could not possibly be interested in Kat. Hale is wealthy, powerful, and is sixth in line to become the Duke of Clayton, so he needs to marry someone worthy of his status, implying that she, Lady Georgette, is worthy. Lady Georgette implies that the Earl donated the Gold Egg to one of Hale's charities in order to get Hale's attention and gain his gratitude, so that he can arrange a marriage between Hale and his daughter. Kat is upset by her conversation with Lady Georgette. Gabrielle finds her while she's searching the castle's basement for any sign of the real Gold Egg, and Kat explains her frustrations with Lady Georgette and with the futility of their mission at Greymore Castle. They still have not found the real Gold Egg, nor have they discovered who might be running the con, and Kat says that they will need a miracle in order to determine what had happened. Gabrielle reassures her by saying that miracles can be arranged. The following day, a snow storm rolls in. Kat, her crew, and the other guests at the Earl's Christmas party gather in a particular sitting room after dinner for tea, and the power goes out because of the storm. Lady Georgette flirts with Hale in the darkness, and the Earl proposes that the guests play charades when Hamish, disguised as one of the Earl's footmen, announces that the Earl has guests. The guests are revealed to be Detective Amelia Bennett, and her superior at Interpol, Detective Jonathan Hoyt. They have come to explain to the Earl that the Gold Egg had been stolen from the Magi Miracle Network, and that the story is headline news. The Earl reveals that he did not want to donate the Egg in the first place, and that his steward made him do it in order to help pay off the Earl's debts. The Earl demands that Agents Hoyt and Bennett recover the Egg, and then, as if by miracle, a tree crashes into the very room in which everyone had gathered. Irina, acting as mistress of the house, demands that everyone go to sleep, and that they can determine what to do about the Egg in the morning. Rather than go to bed, Kat and Hale share a moment under the mistletoe in one of the corridors near their bedrooms when they hear Irina scream. They rush to the Earl's bedroom to find Irina, crying. She claims that the Earl has died, a fact verified by Amelia. The steward, Lady Georgette, and the Viscount, who is delighted to find out he is now the Earl, argue about who is responsible for the emotional shock that caused the Earl's death. Lady Georgette stomps off, upset, and Kat tells everyone they should go to bed. She and Hale then meet up with Gabrielle and the Bagshaws. It has stopped snowing, so they go outside to the garden, and wait near the castle's garage. The crew sees Lady Georgette sneaking out of the house. She claims she's leaving because she can't stand to be in the same house as her dead father's body any longer, but then Irina and the still-living Earl arrive in the garden, and Lady Georgette is not happy to see that her father is still alive. Kat and Hale then reveal that the snowstorm and the power outage had been a faked by Simon. Lady Georgette realizes that the snowstorm and the arrival of Detectives Hoty and Bennett had been part of the ruse developed by Kat and her crew to force the person running the con to reveal themselves. The Detectives then join the others in the garden, and it is revealed that Detective Hoyt is actually Bobby in disguise. They tell Lady Georgette that they know that she arranged for a fake Egg to be given to the Magi Miracle Network, and that they know that she arranged for three of the Earl's fake Eggs to be sold on the black market. Lady Georgette in turn reveals that the wanted to keep the real Gold Egg for herself, as a moment of her mother. She reveals that she knows that, after her father's death, she will not inherit anything, and that for her entire life, she has put up with her father's constant disappointment in her for having been born a girl, rather than a boy who could inherit the Earldom. The Earl tells Lady Georgette that he was arranging for her future security by trying to arrange a match between her and Hale, but Lady Georgette says she would rather have the Egg than the husband. But Lady Georgette, knowing that she's been trapped, tries to run, and throws the real Gold Egg into the air. Kat tries and fails to catch the Egg, which shatters in the snow. The following morning, Kat meets up with Hale before he leaves. He knows that the Magi Miracle Network will have to announce to the public that they do not actually have an Egg of the Magi to auction, and plans to stand by the charity and by Ms. Evans in light of the public embarrassment they are about to face. The next day is December 23, the day of the auction in London. Hale arrives at the auction house, expecting for the auction to have been canceled. He is initially angry that so many people have arrived just to relish in the Magi Miracle Network's shame, but then the auction starts. The auctioneer announces to the potential buyers that the newspapers had made a mistake--the Magi Miracle Network had not been given the Gold Egg of the Magi, but the Frankincense Egg. Hale realizes that Kat had given up her own Egg in order to protect his charity's reputation, and is initially upset that she would sacrifice one of her few mementos of her mother for him. They leave the Magi Miracle Network's offices in the middle of the auction to argue. Kat begs Hale to not be angry because he, being as wealthy as he is, is difficult to give gifts to. Giving up her Egg for the benefit of his charity is one of the few meaningful things that she can give him. Hale relents, and the two of them kiss. They are interrupted by Marcus, who says that he talked with his sister Marianne, the trustee of Hale's inheritance. Marianne authorized Marcus to bid at the Magi Miracle Network's auction on behalf of Hale Industries. Marcus then reveals the case he had been hiding behind his back, and opens it to show Kat and Hale that he had just bought Kat's mother's Egg. He gives the Egg to Hale, who insists that Kat accept her mother's Faberge Egg. Kat and Hale return to Brooklyn with Simon, the Bagshaws, and Bobby, and discover that not only has Uncle Eddie returned from Italy just in time to spend Christmas Eve with them, but that Uncle Charlie has come too. As the family settles down to eat dinner together, Uncle Charlie reveals that he had, in fact, been commissioned by the Earl of Greymore to make several forgeries of the Gold Egg of the Magi twenty years before. Uncle Charlie then sets another case on Uncle Eddie's kitchen table, and opens it to reveal that he returned the forgeries to the Earl, and kept the real one for himself. The Gold and the Frankincense Eggs of the Magi have been reunited; the novella ends with Bobby suggesting that they all go and steal the third egg, the Myrrh Egg, from its owner in Budapest.